Superintendents try to balance school, safety when canceling classes

Pottstown crew crews salt roads in the borough to try and keep up with the falling snow on Tuesday morning, Jan. 21, 2014. For Pottstown Schools Superintendent Jeff Sparagana, the safety of the sidewalks is as important as the safety of the roads. (Photo by John Strickler/The Mercury)

As with so many things, the effectiveness of the decision to declare a school snow day often comes down to simple timing.

In other words, the timing of the snow.

When will it start in the morning? When will it end?

Contrary to what some might think, cancelling school, or calling for an early dismissal or morning delay, requires putting a lot of wheels in motion, say area superintendents, and cannot be undertaken at the drop of a hat.

Advertisement

“I monitor the weather channels all the time and if there is a storm forecast, I wake up at 3:30 to 3:45 to start monitoring the conditions,” said Boyertown Area Schools Superintendent Richard Faidley.

“I speak with the bus supervisors, who are in touch with the municipalities about when they will be treating and plowing the roads,” he said. “We actually have a few drivers out on the road to assess conditions.”

All these factors are taken into account within a framework that puts student and staff safety at the top of the list, Faidley said Tuesday.

“So in today’s storm, for example, the forecast was calling for 2 to 5 inches, then it went to 5 to 10 inches and it was supposed to start between 8 and 10 a.m., when we would have students in school, but then we have to start worrying about getting them home,” said Faidley.

“Our district is 100 square miles and while the driving might not be too bad where its relatively flat in Gilbertsville, you start getting up into the hills in Earl and Pine Forge and those roads can get pretty dangerous pretty quickly,” he said.

“If there’s a doubt, I would always rather err on the side of caution and keeping kids safe. Ultimately, I am responsible for the safety of 7,100 students and between 600 to 700 staff members, and that’s a pretty daunting responsibility,” he said.

“We waited until 6 a.m., but ultimately we decided a closure would be appropriate,” Faidley said. “It’s all in the timing.”

In contrast to the 100-square-mile district Faidley oversees, Jeff Sparagana oversees one that is just 5 square miles and has less busing than most.

In Pottstown, where many students live within walking distance of their school, some of the factors are different — for example it is as important to try to determine how safe the sidewalks are for walking, as the roads are for driving.

“I watch the weather forecast on my iPad for up to three days in advance,” said Sparagana. “And the Montgomery County superintendents talk all the time and try to come to a decision collectively when we can,” he said.

“But conditions across the county can differ somewhat, so I talk to Pottsgrove Superintendent Shellie Feola and sometimes we do things a little differently,” said Sparagana.

For example, the last time we were visited by the freezing temperatures courtesy of the Polar Vortex, “I saw the forecast, which was accurate, that said we were going to be around zero all day long and a two-hour delay in the morning was not going to improve conditions for students at all,” Sparagana said.

“And in our case, I have to take into consideration getting breakfast and lunch into some of our children. With the population we serve, that is a very real consideration,” said Sparagana.

In Tuesday’s storm, Pottstown students were brought in to school at the regular time, but sent home three hours early — after they had been served lunch.

Across the river in Chester County, Phoenxiville Area Schools Superintendent Alan Fegley said his considerations start the night before a storm, when he watches the 11 p.m. weather report, which in the case of Tuesday’s storm said the snow would arrive between 10 a.m. and noon and be light until 2 or 3 p.m. — plenty of time to fit in a school day.

But by 4:30 a.m., things had changed.

“This morning they moved it up, but were still saying it would not be heavy until the afternoon,” said Fegley.

“So we began planning for an early dismissal and we had it posted on our website by 6 a.m. and we started dismissing children between 10:45 and 11 a.m.,” he said.

“We’re going to keep an eye on it tonight and may make a call as early as tonight about tomorrow, depending on how badly snow might be drifting,” Fegley said.

All three superintendents said the timing of decisions also has to factor in parent planning, when possible, but no matter what decision they make “someone is always unhappy with it,” Sparagana said.

“If I can make a call in evening so people can plan, I will, but sometimes the weather just doesn’t cooperate,” Fegley said.

Some districts, such as Boyertown, have used up all their snow days and others, like Pottstown, still have some left.

“We have one snow day left built into our calendar, but we also have snow make-up days built in and the first one is actually in February, Feb. 17, to be exact,” Fegley said.

The very snowy winter is also threatening to play havoc with testing schedules.

Although most districts got through the recent standardized Keystone Tests without disruption, some are in the middle of mid-terms and, for those who use block scheduling, finals.

“We are in the midst of mid-terms,” said Fegley. “And if we have to have a snow day on Wednesday, I guess the students will have another day of study.”

He added that he had received one e-mail from a student Monday night asking “can I stop studying since you’re probably going to have a snow day tomorrow?”

That, said Fegley with a laugh, is not a good reason to stop studying.

About the Author

Evan Brandt has worked for The Mercury since November 1997. His beat includes Pottstown, the surrounding townships and the Pottstown and Pottsgrove school districts, as well as other varied general topics like politics, the environment and education. Reach the author at ebrandt@pottsmerc.com
or follow Evan on Twitter: @PottstownNews.